“Contract” means the agreement between Palace Plumbers and the customer to carry out work of which these terms form a part and where these terms are a schedule to a signed agreement between Palace Plumbers and the Customer.

“The Agreement” means the Agreement.

“Works” means the works described in Palace Plumbers estimates, quotes, work detail sheets, or any other document or email issued by Palace Plumbers as may be varied by agreement in writing between the parties.

For the Purpose of these terms “In writing” includes by email and any documents which are set out in a hand held device and any signature on a hand held screen shall be treated as in writing.

In these terms words importing the masculine gender also include the neuter and the feminine gender and words importing the singular number include also the plural numbers where the content is required.

2. General

2.1 – The Company reserves the right to refuse or decline work at its own discretion. Where the Company agrees to carry out work for the Customer said work will be undertaken by the designated operative of The Company at its absolute discretion.

2.2 – The Customer will be treated as an Account Customer or a Non-Account Customer, according to Palace Plumbers reasonable discretion.

2.3 – All estimates given by Palace Plumbers, all orders and instructions given by the Customer and all work authorisations, are governed by these terms. They supersede any other terms appearing elsewhere and override and exclude any other terms stipulated or incorporated or referred to by the Customer, whether in the order or instructions or in any negotiations or in any course of dealings established between Palace Plumbers and the Customer, except where these terms are a schedule to a signed Agreement between the Customer and Palace Plumbers, in which event these terms apply only to the extent not inconsistent with that Agreement.

2.4 – The Customer acknowledges that Palace Plumbers has not made any representations (other than any expressly stated in the Contract and/or in Palace Plumbers estimate) which have induced it to enter into the Contract and the Contract shall constitute the entire understanding between the Customer and Palace Plumbers for the performance of the Works (and detailed in paragraphs set out below Palace Plumbers Ltd terms and conditions).

2.5 – No modification to the Contract shall be effective unless made by an express written agreement or email exchange between the parties. The signing on behalf of Palace Plumbers of any documentation of the Customer shall not imply any modification of the Contract.

2.6 – These terms & conditions may not be released, discharges, supplemented, interpreted, varied or modified in any manner except by an instrument in writing signed by a duly authorised representative of the Company & by the Customer. Further, these terms & conditions shall prevail over any terms & conditions used by the Customer or contained or set out or referred to in any documentation sent by the Customer to the Company; by entering into a contact with the Company the Customer agrees irrevocably to waive the application of any such terms & conditions.

2.7 – Nothing in this Contract is intended to confer on any person any right to enforce any term which that person would not have but for The Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999. Accordingly, a person who is not a party to this Contract shall have no rights under that Act to enforce any of its terms, but this does not affect any right or remedy of such persons, which exists or is available apart from that Act.

3. Prices, Estimates, Quotes, Variations

3.1 – An estimate by Palace Plumbers is provided based on and defined by a none visual review of the job described by the customer. An estimate is subject to adjustment once the engineer is on site should the customer go ahead and book an appointment based on that estimate.

3.2 – A quote by Palace Plumbers is an on-site evaluation of works requested based on a half hour appointment and with only visual access to any concealed or built in structures that the customer can provide. The engineer can only quote on what is visibly made available to him at the time of appointment by the customer and is subject to adjustment once the engineer is on site to carry out the works should the customer go ahead to book an appointment.

3.3 – Quotes have to be at a time convenient to Palace Plumbers and are chargeable should the customer wish to engage the engineer beyond the capped half hour consultation period. Our customer service staff can provide our current rates should you wish to engage an engineer for more than the designated half hour.

3.4 – Unless Palace Plumbers provides the Customer with an estimate or quote which is accepted by the Customer in accordance with its terms, all Works will be charged on the basis of Palace Plumbers standard Rate Card applicable at the time the Works are carried out.

3.5 – Any estimate or quote by Palace Plumbers is subject to withdrawal by Palace Plumbers at any time before receipt of an unqualified acceptance from the Customer and shall be deemed to be withdrawn unless so accepted within 28 days from its date.

3.6 – Where Palace Plumbers provides the Customer with a clearly stated fixed price estimate or quote which is accepted by the Customer in accordance with its terms, that estimate is a firm, fixed price quotation unless otherwise specified by Palace Plumbers in the estimate and also except as follows:

3.7 – An estimate is based on the information made available to Palace Plumbers by the Customer. If during the conduct of the Works it becomes apparent to Palace Plumbers that that information was either incorrect or insufficient in any respect that Palace Plumbers considers to be material, Palace Plumbers reserves the right to inform the Customer and to increase the estimated price to take account of the revised information.

And

If prior to carrying out the Works, there is an increase to Palace Plumbers of more than 5% in the cost of any relevant materials, equipment hire or transport since the date upon which Palace Plumbers estimate was, written, emailed or orally provided, Palace Plumbers reserves the right to inform the Customer and to provide a revised estimate incorporating that increase. In this event, the revised estimate will apply unless the Customer cancels the Contract before the Works are begun or, if earlier, within 48 hours of the revised estimate being provided.

3.8 – For materials not carried as part of Palace Plumbers standard van stock, unless it is with respect to Works for which there is an estimate which includes Palace Plumbers sourced parts and processing fees, said customer purchased items are subject to a fixed materials collection fee of £50 plus VAT.

3.9 – Where a customer requested item is not easily sourced or generally held by the major suppliers used by Palace Plumbers and Palace Plumbers considers that significant time will need to be spent tracing and then collecting it, Palace Plumbers will inform the Customer in advance and, unless the Customer sources the item itself, this will be charged on a time basis as per Palace Plumbers standard Rate Card. It should be noted that this is an infrequent occurrence.

3.10 – Palace Plumbers standard Rate Card is available for inspection both on Palace Plumbers website (http://www.palaceplumbers.com) and at Palace Plumbers premises during normal business hours. The Rate Card specifies half hourly rates. There is a minimum charge of one hour. Thereafter, charges are made by the half hour, rounded up to the next half hour.

3.11 – Hourly Rate work. The total charge to the Customer shall consist of the cost of materials supplied by the Company (not exceeding the trade purchase price of materials + 25%) and the amount of time spent by the operative in carrying out works (including all reasonable time spent in obtaining un-stocked materials) charged in accordance with the Company’s current hourly rates. The Customer shall only be charged for the time spent related to the Customer’s work, all other time, personal mobile calls etc. are non-chargeable. All charges are subject to VAT at the prevailing rate except in cases where the work carried out is zero-rated.

3.12 – Fixed price work shall be given as a firm cost, (manifest errors exempted) including Labour & Materials, and shall be within +10% over and above the equivalent total hourly rate cost. All costs are plus VAT at the prevailing rate.

Where a written estimate has been supplied to the Customer the total charge to the Customer referred to in the estimate should not exceed the actual time taken by more than 25% but may be revised in the following circumstances:

(i) If after submission of the estimate the Customer instructs the Company (whether orally or in writing) to carry out additional works not referred to in the estimate.

(ii) If after submission of the estimate there is an increase in the price of materials.

(iii) If after submission of the estimate it is discovered that further works need to be carried out which were not anticipated when the estimate was prepared.

(iv) If after submission of the estimate it is discovered that the customers’ description of the job did not adequately describe the full scope and requirement of the job.

(v) If after submission of the estimate it is discovered that there was a manifest error when the estimate was prepared.

(v) Should a detailed Insurance Report be required in addition to the estimate and invoice then this will incur a nominal charge at Palace Plumbers current Insurance estimate rates. Palace Plumbers shall provide those rates on request.

3.13 – The Company shall not be under any obligation to provide an estimate to the Customer and shall only be bound (subject as hereinafter) by estimates given in writing to the Customer & signed by a duly authorised representative of the Company. The Company shall not be bound by any estimates given orally or in which manifest errors occur.

3.14 – The price payable by the Customer is calculated as specified in the above paragraphs. Unless otherwise stated, the price and all estimates provided by Palace Plumbers are shown exclusive of Value Added Tax which will be payable in addition where properly chargeable.

3.15 – If the Works involve a diagnostic process to ascertain the cause or source of a fault or breakdown and during that process an item is ascertained by Palace Plumbers to be faulty and has to be replaced, the Customer will be liable to pay for that replacement even if the breakdown was caused in whole or in part by a different fault.

4. The Works

4.1 – All descriptions, illustrations etc. contained in any catalogues, price lists or advertisements, or otherwise communicated to the Customer, are intended merely to present a general idea of the Works and nothing contained in any of them shall form a part of the Contract.

Material Collection.

Collection of non-stock items is chargeable but:

(a) Time must be kept to a minimum and be reasonable.

(b) If the collection time is likely to exceed 45 minutes the customer must be additionally informed of the circumstances.

(c) Only one engineer is allowed to leave the job to collect parts.

5. The Price

5.1 – The price payable by the Customer is calculated as specified in the above paragraphs and contents of this document unless otherwise stated, the price and all estimates provided by Palace Plumbers are shown exclusive of Value Added Tax which will be payable in addition where properly chargeable.

5.2 – If the Works involve a diagnostic process to ascertain the cause or source of a fault or breakdown and during that process an item is ascertained by Palace Plumbers to be faulty and is replaced, the Customer will be liable to pay for that replacement even if the breakdown was caused in whole or in part by a different fault.

6. Payment

Non-Account Customers:

6.1 – Payment by the Customer is due on completion of the works. Payment must be made immediately upon completion of said works. Any part of the invoice which remains unpaid shall carry interest at the rate of 4% over the base rate until payment in full is received by Palace Plumbers.

Palace Plumbers shall be entitled to interest on a daily basis on any amount not paid on the due date for payment from such due date until payment in full at 4% above the Bank of England base rate at the relevant time.

Account Customers:

6.2 – Palace Plumbers will endeavour to submit invoices to the Customer within 14 days of completion of the Works and, the Customer must make payment within 30 days after the date of issue of the invoice.

Minor defect clean up on construction works (Snagging)

6.3 – Where the Works have been completed subject to snagging, 95% of all amounts outstanding must be paid on such completion and the Customer must provide access to Palace Plumbers without delay to enable the clean up to be finalised. The balance of 5% will become payable upon the finalisation of the snagging or, if access has not been made available to carry out the clean up within 14 days of completion, at the expiry of such 14 day period.

6.4 – The Customer shall accept sole liability to discharge Palace Plumbers account unless he/she discloses to the Company when initially instructing the Company to carry out work &/or supply materials that he/she is acting on behalf of a third party (including, but not limited to, a Limited Company or partnership) & receiving a written estimate) the name of the third party appears on the written estimate.

6.5 – Where the Customer is represented by a third party (such as a managing agent, tenant or other occupier, contractor or other representative), in the event of non-payment by the Customer, the third party will be responsible for payment unless Palace Plumbers has agreed otherwise in writing.

Palace Plumbers shall not be required to issue or deliver any certificates, guarantees or other similar documents regarding the Works until payment has been made in full.

6.6 – Title to any goods supplied by Palace Plumbers to the Customer shall not pass to the Customer but shall be retained by the Company until the Customer has made payment in full for such goods to the Company. Until such time as title in such goods has passed to the Customer:

(i) the Company shall have absolute authority to repossess, sell or otherwise deal with or dispose of all any or part of such goods in which title remains vested in the Company,

(ii) for the purpose specified in (i) above, Palace Plumbers or any of its agents or authorised representatives shall be entitled at any time & without notice to enter any premises in which goods or any part thereof is installed, stored or kept, or is reasonably believed so to be.

(iii) Palace Plumbers shall be entitled to seek a court injunction to prevent the Customer from selling, transferring or otherwise disposing of such goods.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, risk in such goods shall pass on delivery of the same to the Customer, & until such time as title in such goods has passed to the Customer, the Customer shall insure such goods to their replacement value & the Customer shall forthwith, upon request, provide the Company with a certificate or other evidence of such Insurance.

7. Commencement and Completion dates

7.1 – Where the date and/or time for works to be carried out is agreed by the Company with the Customer, then the Company shall use its best endeavours to ensure that the company agent shall attend on the date & at the time agreed. However, the Company accepts no liability in respect of the non-attendance or late attendance on site of the agent/engineer or for the late or non-delivery of materials.

7.2 – Dates specified for the commencement and completion of works are estimates only. Palace Plumbers shall use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that it will attend on the dates and time agreed.

7.3 – Time shall not be of the essence of the Contract except as provided in the paragraphs below set out in these terms and conditions.

8. Inspection of Works

8.1 – The Customer shall inspect the Works as far as it is reasonably possible to do so immediately upon their completion (though failure to countersign the relevant Works Detail Sheet shall not imply rejection of the Works) and if it considers that the Works or any part thereof are not in accordance with the Contract, it shall within 7 days from the date of inspection give detailed notice in writing thereof. In the absence of any such notice, the Works shall be conclusively presumed to be complete and free from any defects, which would be apparent on reasonable examination.

9. Indemnity

9.1 – The Customer shall indemnify Palace Plumbers against all actions, suits, claims, demands, losses, charges, costs and expenses which Palace Plumbers may suffer or incur in connection with a claim by any third party resulting from a breach of the Customer’s obligations, undertakings, representations and warranties in connection with their Contract.

10. Whole agreement and Exclusion of liability

10.1 – These terms set out Palace Plumbers entire liability in respect of the Works and The Company’s liability under them shall be in lieu and to the exclusion of all other warranties, conditions, terms and liabilities, expressed or implied, in respect of the Works and the quality thereof.

11. Limitation of Liability and Liability of Palace Plumbers

Palace Plumbers liability shall be limited to:

11.1 – The repair or making good of any defect pursuant to its undertaking as stated in the below paragraphs and subject to inspection of works required by the customer as stated in the above paragraphs.

11.2 – Liability for death or personal injury resulting from negligence in the course of carrying out Palace Plumbers duties.

11.3 – The reasonable costs of repair or reinstatement of any loss or damage to the Customer’s property if such loss or damage results from Palace Plumbers negligence or that of its employees, agents or sub-contractors and the Customer incurs such costs.

11.4 – Palace Plumbers will not be responsible for damage suffered to a part of the Customer’s property (whether or not The Company is working on that part) where that damage is in whole or in part a consequence of a defect or weakness in that part of the property.

11.5 – Where the Company agrees to carry out works on installations of inferior quality or over ten years old at that date no warranty is given in respect of such works & the Company accepts no liability in respect of the effectiveness of such works or otherwise.

11.6 – Palace Plumbers engineers operate under their own Corgi or Gas Safe Registration & as such are solely responsible for any Gas related work & subsequent liability.

11.7 – The Company shall be entitled to fully recover costs or damages from any operative/engineer/contractor whose negligence or faulty workmanship results in the Company being made liable for those damages or rectification of the work.

12. Permits Licences other Contents and Access

12.1 – It is the responsibility of the Customer to obtain all permits, licences and other consents in connection with the Works unless Palace Plumbers agrees otherwise in writing.

12.2 – The Customer shall provide clear access to enable Palace Plumbers to undertake the Works and will make all necessary arrangements with the proper persons or authorities for any traffic controls and signals required in connection with the carrying out of the Works.

12.3 – The Customer will at all times provide a safe working environment for Palace Plumbers and its employees, agents and sub-contractors for the purposes of carrying out the Works.

12.4 – Where applicable to drainage works, the Customer will provide, if possible, a plan showing drain layouts. If this is not available, Palace Plumbers reserve the right to render additional charges at the relevant applicable rate in accordance with condition stated above in this document, if blockages occur in drains not covered by the specifications or if it is necessary to trace unidentified drains to complete the Works.

12.5 – The Customer must obtain any permission for Palace Plumbers to proceed over property belonging to third parties if this is necessary for the proper execution of the Works and shall obtain any permission necessary to carry out work on property belonging to third parties.

12.6 – The Customer shall indemnify Palace Plumbers against all claims of whatsoever nature made by third parties arising out of the presence of Palace Plumbers its employees, agents or sub-contractors on the Customer’s property save where such claim results directly from negligence on Palace Plumbers part.

12.7 – The Customer shall be liable to the Company for all loss or damage whether direct, indirect or consequential which is suffered by Palace Plumbers as a result of failure or delay by the Customer in performing the obligations referred to above.

12.8 – Palace Plumbers shall not be liable for any delay or for the consequences of any delay in performing any of its obligations if such delay is due to any cause whatsoever beyond its reasonable control, & the Company shall be entitled to a reasonable extension of the time for performing such obligations.

12.9 – The Company shall only be liable for rectifying works completed by the Company & shall not be held responsible for ensuing damage or claims resulting from this or other work overlooked or subsequently requested & not undertaken at that time.

12.10 – These terms & conditions & all contacts awarded between the Company & Customer shall be governed & construed in accordance with English law & shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English law.

13. Defects

13.1 – Subject to the Inspection of Works as stated in this document (paragraph above) and the exclusions listed below in this document, Palace Plumbers undertakes to repair or make good any defect in completed work which appears within six months of completion of the same to the extent that such defects arise from a breach of Palace Plumbers obligations under this Contract and provided that details of the defect are notified by the Customer to The Company in writing within such period and that The Company and its insurers are given the opportunity of inspecting the work and the alleged defect. This undertaking shall only apply to work carried out and completed and invoiced by Palace Plumbers and which the Customer pays for by the due date for payment ascertained in accordance with paragraph 6 above.

13.2 – If Palace Plumbers returns to the site at the Customer’s request to review a claim under this undertaking and it transpires that the defect had not arisen as a result of a breach of this Contract on the part of Palace Plumbers, The Company reserves the right to charge the Customer for the visit at its standard rate as per paragraph 3 above.

13.3 – Palace Plumbers reserves the right not to carry out any work under this paragraph 13 where the Customer cannot evidence that the work was originally carried out and completed by the Company or where payment has not been made in full for such work.

Exclusions are:

(i) Parts and materials will be provided only with the benefit of the manufacturer’s / supplier’s guarantee, and are not guaranteed by Palace Plumbers.

(ii) Systems or structures not installed by Palace Plumbers.

(iii) Any recall arising from circumstances or factors known to the Customer but not notified or disclosed to Palace Plumbers prior to the work having been undertaken.

(iv) Defects resulting from misuse, wilful act, or faulty workmanship by the Customer or anyone working for or under the direction of the Customer (other than Palace Plumbers).

(v) Structural defects encompassing but not limited to subsidence and its resultant effect.

(vi) Damage to drainage systems caused by root penetration or any other outside force.

14. Force Majeure

14.1 – Palace Plumbers will use all reasonable endeavours to carry out the Works on the agreed dates but shall not be under any liability to the Customer if it should be either impossible or impracticable to carry out the Works on the agreed dates or at all, by reason of strike, lock out, industrial dispute, act of God, and act of terrorism or any other event or occurrence beyond Palace Plumbers control.

15. Customer Liability

The Customer shall be liable for:

15.1 – Any loss, damage or injury, whether direct or indirect or consequential, resulting from failure or delay in the performance of the Customer’s obligations under these terms.

15.2 – Providing all necessary power and a clean water supply for Palace Plumbers use in the execution of the contracted works.

15.3 – The safety of both plant and machinery belonging to or hired in by Palace Plumbers or its employees, agents or sub-contractors and shall indemnify Palace Plumbers against its loss, theft or damage.

16. Cancellation

16.1 – If the Customer cancels the Contract without Palace Plumbers consent other than pursuant to paragraph 3 above, the Customer shall indemnify Palace Plumbers against all loss, damage, claims or actions arising out of such cancellation unless otherwise agreed in writing, and for the avoidance of doubt any such cancellation is without prejudice to Palace Plumbers right to payment in accordance with paragraph 6 above or to the cancellation charges pursuant to paragraph 16 below.

16.2 – If the Customer wishes to cancel an appointment for a visit by Palace Plumbers, the Customer will incur a cancellation fee at the companies current rates (ask our staff for our current rates) if the cancellation is made less than 24 hours (but more than 2 hours) before the time scheduled for the appointment the Customer will be charged for the first hour of work at the published rates (Plus VAT) and for any related expenditure in preparation for the work. If the cancellation is made 2 hours or less before the scheduled appointment time Customer shall be liable for all related expenditure together with the profit that would have been made by the Company had the work been carried out &/or materials supplied in accordance with such instructions.

17. Removal of Waste Materials

17.1 – Unless agreed in writing between the parties, the Customer will be responsible for the removal from site of all waste materials resulting from the Works.

18. Frozen Pipes

18.1 – Palace Plumbers will not be liable for any fracture found in frozen pipes attended by Palace Plumbers. The Company will not guarantee to clear blockages occurring in a frozen pipe or drain.

19. Waiver Variation etc.

19.1 – No waiver by Palace Plumbers of any breach by the Customer shall operate as a waiver of any preceding or subsequent breach by the Customer. No variation shall be effective against Palace Plumbers unless sanctioned in writing by the Company. No forbearance or delay on Palace Plumbers part shall prejudice the Company’s rights and remedies under this Contract.

20. The Guarantee

20.1 – The Guarantee shall be for labour only in respect of faulty workmanship for 12 months from the date of completion with the manufacturers’ warranty in force. The Guarantee will become null & void if the work/appliance completed/supplied by the Company is:

(a) Subject to misuse neglect or negligence.

(b) Repaired, modified or tampered with by anyone other than a Company operative.

20.2 – The Company will accept no liability for, or guarantee suitability, for materials supplied by the Customer & will accept no liability for any consequential damage or fault.

20.3 – The Company will not guarantee any work in respect of blockages in waste & drainage systems etc.

20.4 – The Company will not guarantee any work undertaken on instruction from the customer & against the written or verbal advice of the operative/engineer.

20.5 – Work is guaranteed only in respect of work directly undertaken by the company & payment in full has been made. Any non-related faults arising from recommended work, which has not been undertaken by the company, will not be guaranteed.

The company shall not be held liable or responsible for any damage or defect resulting from work not fully guaranteed or where recommended work has not been carried out.

20.6 – Work will not carry a guarantee where the customer has been notified by the operative either verbally or indicated in ticked boxes or in Comments/ Recommendations of any other related work which requires attention.

20.7 – The customer shall be solely liable for any hazardous situation in respect of Corgi and Gas Safe Regulations or Gas Warning Notice issued.

20.8 – Where the Company agrees to carry out works on installations of inferior quality or over ten years old at that date no warranty is given in respect of such works & the Company accepts no liability in respect of the effectiveness of such works or otherwise.

WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY

4.72 Average 869 Reviews

Tony Geering VERIFIED

We called Palace Plumbers to a leak under the sink and were very pleased with the level of response and workmanship

Leanne Watson VERIFIED

I've used other local plumbing companies in the past but will continue with Palace Plumbers from now on. The office staff are very helpful and the engineers have been on time every day to install my new boiler.

Reg Homerton VERIFIED

Very pleased with the service.

Megan Moran VERIFIED

Taz, the plumber who visited, was very courteous and managed to fix my shower and toilet in just over an hour. The time went slightly beyond the hour but I wasn't charged any extra for this.

Beth Jensen VERIFIED

I found the level of communication from the office outstanding and wouldn't hesitate to recommend this company.

Henry Fullerton VERIFIED

Boiler repair was carried out swiftly. It's been 2 weeks and my heating system is working better than ever. I've already booked up my annual service for later in the year. 2 thumbs up.

Liz James VERIFIED

Good service.

Cindy O'Neill VERIFIED

Although Palace Plumbers didn't give me the cheapest quote I was very impressed with their level of knowledge and professionalism when speaking to the office. I went with my heart and decided to use them. I'm extrmely happy with the result.